Tennessee Law Requiring Climate Change Denial Be Taught In Schools

Most people don't deny the fact that the environment is always changing, it is the causation that is the strain of things. For example people like
you say: "It is all human caused(saying man-made is sexist, as women pollute the same as men) and thus we need crushing taxes and international
socialism".

Most people don't deny the fact that the environment is always changing, it is the causation that is the strain of things. For example people like
you say: "It is all human caused(saying man-made is sexist, as women pollute the same as men) and thus we need crushing taxes and international
socialism".

When in reality it is because of Cosmic Radiation.

But people like you never let a crisis go to waste.

People like me. Exactly how am I using this crisis?

Perhaps you missed the point of this thread, because it derailed into a debate on the merits of global warming caused by people or natural phenomenon.

My thread was about Corportate America INFLUENCING CURRICULUM in a state school system.

Agreed. The federal government is not requiring states adapt the Common Core curriculum. Instead, the state is presented with the Common Core and
they can take it or leave it. Not all states have made the switch, and some may choose not too.

Originally posted by smyleegrl
My thread was about Corportate America INFLUENCING CURRICULUM in a state school system.

Let's see if I can help you drive home this point about the influence of corporate America on this bill.

The Tennessee bill is based on a ALEC Model Bill. What is ALEC?

The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) describes itself as the largest “membership association of state legislators,” but over 98%
of its revenue comes from sources other than legislative dues, primarily from corporations and corporate foundations.

-------
So that is what ALEC is. Now this is how it relates to the bill that was passed in Tennessee. Please keep in mind that this is from January
before the current bill passed.

Tennessee

Tennessee's House bill, H.B. 368, essentially a replica of the ALEC model bill, overwhelmly passed the House in April 2011, but its Senate-version
cousin, S.B. 893, failed to pass. As the Los Angeles Times article makes clear, efforts to push the bill through are far from over.

Key clauses of that bill read,

"[T]eachers shall be permitted to help students understand, analyze, critique, and review in an objective manner the scientific strengths and
scientific weaknesses of existing scientific theories covered in the course being taught."
"[P]ublic elementary and secondary schools…[should]…respond appropriately and respectfully to differences of opinion about controversial
issues."
These excerpts match, almost to a "T," bullet points one, three and four of the ALEC model bill.

Also from the TN listing at desmogblog it lists the money trail around this bill:

Nine of the 24 co-sponsors of the H.B. 368 are ALEC members, according to CMD's ALEC Members database.

In addition, these nine ALEC member co-sponsors received $8,695 in campaign contributions from the oil and gas industry combined in the 2008 and 2010
campaign cycles, according to FollowTheMoney.org. The other 15 sponsors of the bill, while not members of ALEC, received $10,400 in their campaign
cofffers in the 2008 and 2010 campaign cycles combined.

S.B. 893, on the other hand, was sponsored by Sen. Bo Watson (R-11), a recipient of $1,800 in oil and gas industry money in the 2008 and 2010 election
cycles combined.

Translation: between the 25 of them, on top of a model bill handed to them by corporate oil and gas industry lobbyists, they were also furnished with
$20,895 in campaign cash by these industries with the expectation to do their legislative bidding.

Notice all the references to oil and gas industry lobbyist? Well it doesn't get any better with our Governor, he is a Haslam, the same Haslam's that
started and run Pilot Corp.

Additional:
The above blog has a breakdown of the various states that have passed or are trying to pass bills based on the ALEC model "Environmental Literacy
Improvement Act.". Here is a copy of that
from ALECExposed.org.

Agreed. The federal government is not requiring states adapt the Common Core curriculum. Instead, the state is presented with the Common Core and they
can take it or leave it. Not all states have made the switch, and some may choose not too.

Under those conditions, I believe there would be no problem. Of course, as I'm sure you know, unless the vast majority of the states were to accept
the common core, the inequality would still exist. It is a good start, but it remains to be seen how it will be accepted by the various states. There
is no question that the curricula of the schools need to improve, as it certainly has been "dumbed down", as the common folk like to assert. That
was obvious to me, as a Professor, who saw freshmen that came into my institution that could barely write a complete sentence, and were severely
deficient in in spelling, grammar, and original thought processes. It was very discouraging. Part of that problem, I believe was due to the emphasis
on grades, the pressure of parents on school boards to ensure that Johnny and Susie got decent grades, and the total lack by the parents on emphasis
on LEARNING rather than grades. It is a sad situation. I had one student that was a "straight A" student in high school, that turned in papers that
I wouldn't accept from a 5th grader. The grammar was non-existent, the spelling was atrocious, and again, the thought process consisted of her
"feelings", with no facts to back them up. Sad, Sad.

Agreed. The federal government is not requiring states adapt the Common Core curriculum. Instead, the state is presented with the Common Core and they
can take it or leave it. Not all states have made the switch, and some may choose not too.

Under those conditions, I believe there would be no problem. Of course, as I'm sure you know, unless the vast majority of the states were to accept
the common core, the inequality would still exist. It is a good start, but it remains to be seen how it will be accepted by the various states. There
is no question that the curricula of the schools need to improve, as it certainly has been "dumbed down", as the common folk like to assert. That
was obvious to me, as a Professor, who saw freshmen that came into my institution that could barely write a complete sentence, and were severely
deficient in in spelling, grammar, and original thought processes. It was very discouraging. Part of that problem, I believe was due to the emphasis
on grades, the pressure of parents on school boards to ensure that Johnny and Susie got decent grades, and the total lack by the parents on emphasis
on LEARNING rather than grades. It is a sad situation. I had one student that was a "straight A" student in high school, that turned in papers that
I wouldn't accept from a 5th grader. The grammar was non-existent, the spelling was atrocious, and again, the thought process consisted of her
"feelings", with no facts to back them up. Sad, Sad.

Improving the curriculum will help, but I believe getting parents involved is even more crucial. Where I teach, which is a low-income rural area,
parents simply aren't involved. Some of that is due to the fact that they are single parents and are working constantly to provide for their
children. But more often it seems to be apathy from the parents.

Another HUGE issue is social promotion. We have students who aren't ready to progress to the next grade. So what do we do? We say it hurts their
self esteem to be retained, we place them in the next grade, and they fall further behind. By the time they are in high school they are functionally
illiterate and have zero life skills.

When I was in high school, we had what was called the vocational track, the college track, and the regular track. For students who did not plan to
attend college, they could choose to study work skills such as mechanics, welding, agriculture, secretarial duties, etc in preparation for a job after
graduating. For those students who planned to attend college, they took the college track courses.

We've done away with the vocational track classes in my area. Everyone is pigeonholed into the college track. But not everyone can or should go to
college. They graduate high school with no real skills, and no real future.

I could go on and on about the education system in America, but I'll bring this to a close. Glad to know there are folks who understand the
underlying issues!

I know how you feel. Early on, when I had just joined ATS, after my retirement, I spent countless nights posting extensive threads concerning the
problems with the educational system today. A few people did understand, but many simply attempted to throw blame without cause, and in the end, I
just stopped posting such threads. It seems very few people wish to actually delve deeply into the issues. It is typical of the "instant"
gratification, and "instant "expert" " analysis of the unschooled and uneducated. The MSM, of course, is a heavy contributor to this problem, in
that they summarize every problem into a 30 or 60 second "spot". It would truly be a lesson in humility if the MSM were able to realize how ignorant
they sound to people that understand the issues they claim to analyze.

I know how you feel. Early on, when I had just joined ATS, after my retirement, I spent countless nights posting extensive threads concerning the
problems with the educational system today. A few people did understand, but many simply attempted to throw blame without cause, and in the end, I
just stopped posting such threads. It seems very few people wish to actually delve deeply into the issues. It is typical of the "instant"
gratification, and "instant "expert" " analysis of the unschooled and uneducated. The MSM, of course, is a heavy contributor to this problem, in
that they summarize every problem into a 30 or 60 second "spot". It would truly be a lesson in humility if the MSM were able to realize how ignorant
they sound to people that understand the issues they claim to analyze.

Dude, the problem is the federal government. The CORE Curriculum was designed to dumb children down. The Federal Government needs to stay out of
education and leave it to the States, Counties, and local School Districts(unless there is evidence of kick backs, corruption, that kind of thing.
Then the FBI should intervene).

I know how you feel. Early on, when I had just joined ATS, after my retirement, I spent countless nights posting extensive threads concerning the
problems with the educational system today. A few people did understand, but many simply attempted to throw blame without cause, and in the end, I
just stopped posting such threads. It seems very few people wish to actually delve deeply into the issues. It is typical of the "instant"
gratification, and "instant "expert" " analysis of the unschooled and uneducated. The MSM, of course, is a heavy contributor to this problem, in
that they summarize every problem into a 30 or 60 second "spot". It would truly be a lesson in humility if the MSM were able to realize how ignorant
they sound to people that understand the issues they claim to analyze.

Dude, the problem is the federal government. The CORE Curriculum was designed to dumb children down. The Federal Government needs to stay out of
education and leave it to the States, Counties, and local School Districts(unless there is evidence of kick backs, corruption, that kind of thing.
Then the FBI should intervene).

This content community relies on user-generated content from our member contributors. The opinions of our members are not those of site ownership who maintains strict editorial agnosticism and simply provides a collaborative venue for free expression.